spectrum of the seas Junior suite

[hammo]

Having trouble finding any information regarding the benefits of a Silver Junior Suite on Spectrum of The Seas . Just a short 4 day cruise out of Singapore and I was about to book a balcony when I saw the Junior Suite wasnt a whole lot more but I cant see many ( any?) perks really besides the larger cabin . We are Diamond so I think we get some sort of priority boarding ? anyway , and I see there is a Silver dining area on the ship but I cant seem to get any info on that either . I understand this is not a full Suite class with most benefits denied , so I just needed to understand the benefit before probably heading back to the balcony 😆 . Any advice most appreciated - looking forward to the ship itself and love the Asian style dining for a change . 

[BecAus]

I too have been looking at this recently and it was hard to get much info but was able to find a couple of recent articles by googling and I think the Singapore Cruise Society blog had some info.

Spectrum has only been back sailing in Singapore for about 5 weeks.

We too are Diamond.  From what I read there is not really any priority boarding at the moment like there used to be.  Perhaps full suites but I'm not even sure about that.  It did mention The Key had priority and ? Pinnacles - I think an article said Singapore just got their 2nd Pinnacle.

 

You have to choose your check-in time and they are very strict about that to control the number of passengers in one area.  If you arrive early you will be turned away.

 

The main benefit appears to be a bigger room of course and you have access to the Silver Dining Room for B/F, lunch and dinner - it used to be only dinner like CK on their other ships but changed recently from what I've read.

 

My son and I flew up to Singapore for a short cruise on SC on the inaugural voyage across from Europe to Asia when it called in there for a week.  We were in an inside room and had access to the Silver Lounge as Diamonds - they didn't have a DL and this replaced that.  To me it is a mix of a DL and CK.  

It has the lounge area and then a restaurant area where they have a (smaller than WJ of course) buffet which I believe is for B/F and Lunch and then for dinner there is the buffet plus you can order

a la carte items as well.

 

I could find nothing mentioned about whether Diamonds were still being able to access the SIlver Lounge so I'm not sure about whether that is still the policy or not.

It did mention the 4 x vouchers that Diamonds now get.

 

I hope that helps a little bit.

 

As an aside... I found the same 4n cruise to be $1000 cheaper on the RCI Singapore site as opposed to the Aus site!

 

[hammo]

Thankyou BecAus - that was excellent info , much appreciated .

[hammo]

Did a test on Jan16 and not really any savings on that using the Singapore site given the $AU , a little OBC which would help I guess , but not sure on the grats given the booking is via Singapore site not Aussie ? 

[BecAus]

Grat's are included like they are in Aus.

 

If it's about the same price then that's all good, just thought I'd mention it.  I was a little shocked to find the same cruise was 1K more on the AUS site!

I believe it is the start of their school break but I only had a one week window available to me so couldn't be choosy.  Could have something to do with the pricing I looked at, not sure?

 

I read thru all the T&C and could find nothing that said I couldn't book thru the SIN site, you're just bound by their T&C which seem similar to ours.

 

The OBC was $50 then, the new offer is $76!

[bobmacliberty]

Not sure about Spectrum, and I can't comment on Singapore right now, but we think the larger room alone is worth (at least some) of the extra cost of a JS.  50% more space in the main area plus a larger bathroom with tub/shower (not just the shower tube) and walk in closet.  Wider balcony to be able to be able to more comfortably sit 2 people on an angle.  If the extra cost for a JS was not at lot, I'd choose it, even without the other potential benefits.  We're D and soon to be D+ and get many of those benefits anyway.

 

Edit: I just watched a couple of Spectrum JS videos and it appears that there are some differences vs Oasis Class, so not everything that I said above applies.  Still, I like having more space.

Edited May 18, 2022 by bobmacliberty

[Cruise Wonderland]

Here is a list of benefits for various suites on Spectrum of the Seas.

Junior Suites belong to Sea Class.

 

[Cruise Wonderland]

On 5/18/2022 at 2:40 PM, hammo said:

Junior Suite wasnt a whole lot more but I cant see many ( any?) perks really besides the larger cabin.

And with a bathtub.

 

On 5/18/2022 at 2:40 PM, hammo said:

I see there is a Silver dining area on the ship but I cant seem to get any info on that either.

Junior Suite guests can access the Silver Dining area.

Other higher categories of Suite guests can access both the Golden Dining and Silver Dining area.

 

On 5/18/2022 at 3:02 PM, BecAus said:

I could find nothing mentioned about whether Diamonds were still being able to access the SIlver Lounge so I'm not sure about whether that is still the policy or not.

When Spectrum sailed in Hong Kong a few months ago, Diamonds can access the Silver Lounge.

[hammo]

Just reviving this with a couple more questions I have not been able to find answers to anywhere . Thank heavens for this forum re Spectrum of the seas - seems very little info available from RCCL .

-- Can anyone tell me if  Junior Silver Suites have access to the Solarium area - I read it was corderned off for Suite Guests ( real Suite Guests 😆 ) - several posters have compared Spectrum to the Titanic and the class distinction on areas that maybe are not available to most including Silver Suite guests .. We would be disapointed if the Solarium and those pool etc were out of bounds for silver suites . So a deal breaker for us . 

--- Can anyone tell me if Diamond get access to the Silver Dining and Lounge anyway - read that that was the case previously ... 

--- Do Diamond get any prioirity with boarding like we do on other ships ? 

Thanks for any help with these questions . 

[hammo]

I may have found the answer to my own question - looks like we may be non starters on this ship . 

Any add on to the below ?

The Golden Suite complex has the cluster of suites at the front of the ship, in which you need a key card to enter the area. Within this area, you have the Golden Dining room and lounge, the silver dining and lounge (which the lounge area replaces the diamond lounge for those that are at that level). The Solarium is no longer a part of the general ship, but only for the Golden area. A special balcony area is on top of the solarium, and a private shopping/consulting area is in the complex. Overall, the area was designed for the high revenue staterooms and so the design of these areas, as well as the size was made to be exclusive. Although I thought the area was nice, I would not want to pay the premium price they are asking for it.

[Biker19]

2 hours ago, hammo said:

Any add on to the below ?

That language sounds like it's for sailings from China - the rules are likely different during her stay in Singapore. Read some of the Spectrum info/reviews on the Singapore Cruise Society FB page.

[hammo]

Thanks Biker19 , will do . 

[BecAus]

Hi there

I have to get ready for work so don't have alot of time but will try and quickly answer your questions.

 

We just got back from our 4n sailing out of Singapore on SOTS on June 6th.

 

We had a great time on  board. Ship is still beautiful and still looking brand spanking new!

 

We were in a Silver Jnr suite.  Access was exactly the same as when we briefly sailed her on the inaugural sailings out of Singapore.

Silver's had full access to the Silver Lounge / Dining (bit like a CK set-up)

No 'snacks' being served in there during Happy Hour but one night we went there during that time (eating elsewhere that night) and made our own pre-dinner snacks from the buffet (no eating in the actual lounge) and they were happy for us to do that at a table - never a problem with tables.

 

You definitely have access to the Solarium, in fact whole ship does.  You can enter through the Silver Lounge into that area.  Half is roped off f, supposedly only for Silver guests but I saw quite a few people read the sign, look around and walk through into that area who I suspect weren't but it was NOWHERE near full anyway

 

Loved the SIlver Lounge! Tried the jammer for B/F and my husband hated it, it was chaos. The Silver Lounge was lovely. We never made it there for B/F unfortunately as we were up too late.

 

I haven't got time to post welcome letters but YES as a Diamond I would have had full access to the same as Junior suite so if I'd booked balcony instead of suite I would have had the same experience but the extra room in the junior was nice even though it was only 4n.

 

I don't think Diamond's get priority boarding.  By pure chance we got called over to the 'suite' boarding lane and I did note that it said Sea Class (which is Silver Jnr) and the Classes above - Sky and ??.

But it was not super crowded when we boarded and wouldn't have been an issue either way.

 

Asked Silver concierge and they were sailing with 3018 guests which is a little over half capacity.

 

Only time I noticed C & A priority was at the Two70 show where D+ and above and the two higher classes of suites (not Silver Jnr - Sea class) were allowed in 5mins before others.

 

On that note - the Two70 show 'Silk Road' was showing.  I didn't think it was as it wasn't in the app the week before but it was.  Made a reservation for it in the app just after we boarded.

Show seems different to when I first saw it in 2019.

 

Reservations needed for bumper cars.  They charge for Ifly and Northstar - we've done before so weren't worried about going on but I think it's pretty rude to charge people for these - I guess it keeps the numbers down for it though.  I know when I was on in 2019 they didn't have enough space to accommodate everyone on  a 3n cruise and it was a real problem for guests who didn't know they had to book early or miss out so maybe that's why they did it but I still think it's disappointing they charge.

It was $20 Northstar, $40 'extended' Northstar and $40 Ifly.

 

Re: Gold suite - they definitely have their own areas up on decks 15 / 16.  They can go to Silver dining room but have their own up there.

They wouldn't have exclusive access to Solarium, their deck is above it.  They might have a balcony up there overlooking it but that would be it.  My husband wanted to look at the area and reckoned he would get in, I told him he couldn't and he was back a minute later - yep, no access!

You swipe your room card to open door to Silver and Gold areas.

On boarding day we went to Silver lounge before we had our cards (they are waiting at your stateroom) and there was a staff member at the Silver door letting people in and checking names off a list.  After that we used our card to swipe for access.

 

In conclusion, I would have got the same access to everything as a Diamond in a regular inside or balcony suite as I did in a junior suite.

 

Gotta go now.  If you have any more questions I'll try and answer for you later.  I can try and post our welcome letter although posting photos ain't my specialty!

Hope that helps

 

[Biker19]

31 minutes ago, BecAus said:

Classes above - Sky and ??.

Star. 

[BecAus]

Thanks Biker

Couldn’t remember it offhand & didn’t have time to look it up : )

[hammo]

Wow Bec !,  That was just fantastic to get that response and information .  

I guess we might stick with the balcony as Diamond members then , Im just a little unsure about how you access the Silver Lounge if you arent in that category as you mentioned - just having a non Silver Suite card ? Does a Diamond card do the job? 

 

"You swipe your room card to open door to Silver and Gold areas.

On boarding day we went to Silver lounge before we had our cards (they are waiting at your stateroom) and there was a staff member at the Silver door letting people in and checking names off a list.  After that we used our card to swipe for access."

 

Assuming then the staff member would permit a Diamond member who wasnt in a Silver Suite ? 

 

Great news about the Solarium access and that being available to Diamond also . 

I read somewhere that the Silver Lounge offers a couple of a la carte menu items for dinner as well as the limited buffet ?

We are looking at the 7 night cruise January 2 - hoping for a similar passenger number as you but anticipate many more being school holidays .( hence the desire to find some adults only area as there will probably be 1000 +  kiddies 😂.

 

Any other info would be most appreciated , Thanks again .

 

[BecAus]

[BecAus]

[BecAus]

[hammo]

Fantastic again - Thankyou , that has made it very clear now . Cheers to you 

[BecAus]

No problem, happy to help with any info I can.  I posted the Compass and other info - hope you can see them enough to read - I had a stupid amount of trouble posting them - I'm not very 'techy'.

 

A few more things as I think of them.

 

As on other ships, the cruise compass paper form is not automatically given out but I asked my room attendant and he was happy to provide.  I found having to use the app constantly really drained my phone and I just prefer looking at a paper copy.

 

I am 99% certain that you will have no problem entering the lounge as a Diamond with your card.

They are very aware that Diamonds are allowed to use it.  I'm certain my son and I did that in 2019 with no issue and we were in an inside room.

He had quite a few pages of his list that he referred to so I'm sure it contained all suites + any D's & up.

 

There was very rarely anyone in the lounge at all.  Quite a few using the dining area though.

They are still under a few restrictions in Singapore although most have lifted now.

Masks indoors was the main thing - all over Singapore and the ship.

I was a bit concerned about this as we've had very little mask wearing where we live but it really wasn't that much of a hassle.  Once you sit down or you are outside it's not required.

We did have to do a pre-cruise RAT test (they call it ART) but this was very easy.

We stayed at the Carlton and there was a testing centre across the road at Raffles City.

Made an appt online (email) before arriving.  10.30am appt (they gave me that time) for a noon boarding.  I had them shove the stick in as we are not very familiar with the tests here ($25) or you can shove it up there yourself  for $15 whilst they observe.  Emailed result within 1/2hr and it was also on the TraceTogether app that I downloaded which you are currently required to have when in Singapore - quite likely be done with that and testing by the time you go.

 

They will serve you a drink in the lounge, using your vouchers of course, but he did say no eating - maybe that is a regular thing the no eating? I can't really remember from 2019.

They have some appetiser type things on the buffet so we just made a plate of our own and ate at a table.

The buffet is REALLY good in there, smallish but a really good selection.

There is a small alacarte menu, sorry can't remember what was on it really.  There was Salmon which I had one night but we really just preferred the buffet selections.  I was told the alacarte menu didn't change each day so I never looked at it again.

 

We did try the dining room one night as I thought we should try it at least once.

It was fine but wasn't interested in going back.  Service was very slow.

 

We went to Chops for lunch on the 2nd day and that was very nice.  Lunch was ~ $40 (Sing/Aus) compared to over $80 for dinner, no way was I paying that.

I don't drink much do I had the Refreshment pkg and my husband made do with the D drinks.

We only booked this ~ 3 wks out and I'd paid $40/day for it but then about a week out it dropped to $27/day which I saw by chance (Memorial day sale) so I cancelled and rebooked.

I definitely got good value at the lower price but might have struggled to cover the $40/day price.

 

It was school break when we were there too. It really wasn't that bad but I guess, as I mentioned, the ship wasn't full. It was mostly families on board but they really weren't in the areas we were in.

They used the outdoor and indoor pool so they were busy but they aren't allowed in the Solarium.

There was not many people using the "Silver' side of the Solarium so there were lots of places you could sit in peace there.

I did notice they really don't discipline their kids much at all from what I could see.

When we were watching the Two70 show these kids were hanging over the edge and looking down into one of the parts of the stage that opens up and brings performers up from the deck below - the parents were right there letting them do this - so dangerous.  It took a ridiculous amount of time for one of the show staff to come and put a stop to it.

Mostly it was ok.  Of course there were occasions where kids were a bit loud, overtired by the sound of it, or running around but not enough to ruin your experience.

 

All in all, it was a very nice cruise.  ALL staff onboard were super friendly and welcoming and happy to be cruising!  The ship had been up in HK but they literally shut down if they have one case so it was a bit difficult for them and probably why they brought the ship down to Singapore 6mth early.

The ship is looking great and sailing out of Singapore is always easy and lovely to look out at sailing.

Currently they aren't stopping at any ports, we wouldn't have got off anyway, but I believe they are going back to port stops around October.

 

Hope that's not too long and helps, cheers : )

 

 

[hammo]

How did you find the compulsory mask wearing at all times indoors - most cruises have made that optional for fully vaccinated guests , RCCL Singapore being different from RCCL most other places .

[hammo]

Sorry Bec , last question is redundant having just read your last post - slap my head emoji 🤪

[BecAus]

Ha, ha - that's fine : )

Yes, that is what I was most concerned about.  I thought it would be a deal breaker for my husband.

We live in small country town and our mask wearing has been very limited.

It really wasn't that bad.  We had a few days in Singapore beforehand and whilst you don't love doing it of course, it really was ok, my husband didn't complain once about it.

I'm supposedly severely immuno-compromised so I tend to wear one if I'm going to the supermarket etc.. even though we've stopped that here now but on the whole we've had VERY limited mask use.

 

Singaporeans generally wear them inside and outside, rare to see someone without one.  A few did that a lot before the pandemic anyway but most/all do now.

[Jomtien]

Great info from BecAus.I have been trying to track info on D+ status and benefits etc on the Spectrum for months now. I am sailing 3B2Bs from 15 Sept 22. Great news today: no pre testing required for those vaccinated and mask wearing on the ship is optional. Now only the required Singapore and the Malaysia pre boarding apps to deal with.

again a big thank you to BecAus.

Stewart